


Strange

by TheLaughingManic



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-02 23:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2829215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLaughingManic/pseuds/TheLaughingManic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I mean, if they really like each other that much, does it really matter?"</p><p>"I guess . . . not? Honestly, I don't really know. If they're happy, then I'm cool with it. But that doesn't make it any less strange for me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange

**Author's Note:**

> Man, I haven't seen Oofuri, much less wrote any fic for it, in a long while. I came across this when cleaning up my folders; I completely forgot that I had finished it. Cleaned it up a little but didn't edit much so I apologize in advance if anything seems off.
> 
> I hope you enjoy~!

Even though it was gentle and soft - almost delicate - a hot, burning passion could still be felt behind the kiss. When the pair pulled away, they gazed into each other's eyes, their blushes darkening but otherwise seeming unfazed.

The dark-haired boy was kneeling, a hand gently trailing along the jawline of the other. Though he usually was scowling at the person before him, right now he was looking up with a faint, tender expression of anxiety on his face, as if seeking permission.

The other boy, the honey-blonde, was surprisingly not quivering, whimpering, or pulling away. In contrast, he was sitting very quietly on the bench, hands still and relaxed beside him. Gold eyes gazed steadily - unwaveringly - into grey ones.

It was a rare moment of communication for them. _Especially_ for them.

After a moment, they both looked down as the dark-haired boy started to unbutton the honey-blonde's shirt. A faint shadow of the dark-haired boy's characteristic scowl returned as he struggled and fumbled slightly with the uncooperative buttons. The honey-blonde blushed even further but otherwise remained as still as a statue.

It was all very strange, this uncharacteristic calm and gentleness between the two boys. And behind it all, that understated _passion._

tick . . .

tick . . .

tick . . .

_— the HELL!?_

Hanai spun around and slammed a hand down on Tajima's head, shoving the shorter boy down with him. They sat like that underneath the clubhouse's window for some time, each mulling over what they had just seen. Or rather, Tajima was sprawled rather inelegantly on the ground, eyes wide and blinking, with Hanai's hand still gripping his head while Hanai himself sweated over the whole situation . . .

_What the hell was that?_  
 _I can't — won't — believe it!_  
 _Why the clubhouse?_  
 _I'm never going to be comfortable changing in the clubhouse ever again._  
 _Did I really just see . . . ?_  
 _God, yes, I just did!_  
 _Wait, maybe it was just my imagina— LIKE HELL I WOULD IMAGINE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!_  
 _Of all the people in the world, those two!? Really!?_  
 _I won't be able to look at them in the face for who knows how long._  
 _How in the world did none of us not notice!?_  
 _All I wanted to do was get my English notes . . . ._  
 _Gah, I'm an idiot, why did I leave them behind in the first place!?_  
 _Maybe I can come back later?_  
 _Wait, crap, I can't, the school gates close soon._  
 _Is the school open on the weekends?_  
 _Only for the teachers . . ._  
 _HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO STUDY FOR THE UNIT FINAL MONDAY!?_  
 _AH FUCK WAIT, more importantly, what should I do about those two?_  
 _Don't say anything, DUH._  
 _AHHHHHH, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THOSE TWO?_  
 _Any other pair—_  
 _Wait, what am I saying?_  
 _Gahhhhhhh!_

And so on.

At some point, Hanai realized something that overshadowed all other thoughts and made his blood run cold.

_Abe is going to **KILL** me._

From inside there came a soft, high-pitched moan.

_Is that **Mihashi**?_

His mind blew a fuse.

If Hanai was still capable of coherent thought, he would have sworn he could feel his brain leaking out through his ears.

Tajima shifted awkwardly next to him. He really didn't feel comfortable in his current position, and was wondering how long Hanai planned to keep gripping his head. Glancing up, he frowned, irritated; Hanai seemed frozen in thought, oblivious to everything and everyone around him.

Tajima shifted some more. Not that he minded Hanai's hand on his head — he liked it actually — but the death grip was starting to get a little painful.

"Hey, Hanai—" he started.

Hanai jumped, having completely forgotten about Tajima, and pounced on him, tackling him to the ground and hastily covering his mouth with both hands.

 _Hey, hey! A little overkill, don't you think?_ Tajima thought indignantly as he struggled and pulled at Hanai's hands. Hanai for his part was looking around hurriedly to make sure their cover wasn't blown.

 _I. Can't. Fucking. BREATHE!_ And with that, Tajima bit hard into one of Hanai's hands. Hanai made a long incoherent noise in the back of his throat as he tried to muffle the many various screams and curses he wanted to hurl at the brat glaring and panting before him.

Instead, he settled for grabbing Tajima by the collar of his shirt, thereby choking him into silence, and dragging him around the corner to the back of the school, as far away from the clubhouse as he could and still be able to see if anybody left. After all, he really needed to get his English notes. No way was he flunking a test — a freaking UNIT FINAL! — in his best subject just because a couple of his teammates decided to . . . uh . . . to deepen their relationship. God, _fuck_ , he wished he could just erase the mental images.

He thanked his lucky stars that he was captain because that meant he could carry a spare key with him at all times. As the last ones in there, either Abe or Mihashi (probably Abe) has to lock up, and Hanai _really_ didn't want to face them right now over something so trivial as a key.

Tomorrow morning is to going to be one hell of an uncomfortable practice.

Hanai sighed heavily. _Why me?_

When he felt something move in his hand, he looked over in surprise, having completely forgotten about Tajima. Again. Except there was no Tajima, only a rumpled shirt in his hand.

_Ack! Where did that runt run off to now!?_

"Seriously, Hanai, you need to learn to chill out," an all-too-familiar voice said behind him. Hanai started and whirled around to find Tajima standing there half-naked and rubbing his neck. Hanai flushed, eyes roving over the lithe, tanned body . . .

When Tajima opened his mouth to say something else, Hanai jerked back to reality, threw Tajima's shirt at his face, and snapped, "Put your shirt back on!"

"You were choking me!" Tajima retorted but complied. Hanai huffed and turned away. Then sagged against the wall as his thoughts went back to _that_.

"Like I said, I don't know why you're panicking so much," Tajima said after a moment.

"Don't you find it awkward?" Hanai replied as he slid down to sit on the ground. He rested his head in his hands.

"Find what awkward?" Tajima walked over to lean against the wall beside him.

Hanai looked up, somewhat astonished. "You mean that you don't think it'll be awkward hanging out with them after _that_?"

Tajima shook his head. "Why should it be?"

"Well, for one, it seems as if no one else knows that those two a-are dating, so should we just ignore it and pretend we didn't see? Or, um, or, I don't know? Treat them as a couple?" Hanai could feel himself reddening. He felt like such a dirty voyeur. He hung his head in his arms again.

Tajima gazed at him for a long moment, then looked up at the darkening sky, commenting, "They're our friends, Hanai. Just because we know they're together now doesn't change that fact. So I don't really see a need to change how we treat them."

Hanai mulled that over for a long moment. "You have a point," he said finally.

They stayed like that for some time, Hanai sitting and studying the ground while Tajima continued to stare up at the reddening sky.

Eventually, Hanai broke the silence. "Say, does it bother you at all that they're both guys?"

Tajima glanced down, then slowly lowered himself so that he was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder to him. Though it was more like shoulder-to-arm due to their height differences. Tajima deliberately ignored that observation, simply enjoying Hanai's warmth instead. Looking back up at the sky, he answered, "Not really. I mean, it's really obvious how much they like each other."

Hanai had to agree with that part. Never had he seen Mihashi so calm nor Abe so _gentle_. Especially Abe; that was the mind-boggling part. He— no, everyone has seen how calm and determined Mihashi can become on the mound. It was if he became a completely different person. The calmness he saw back there in the clubhouse was something akin to that. But Abe? Abe was loud and intimidating and rough around the edges. Whether it was school, practice, or a game, he had this sort of personality that implied he would take you down without remorse if you were in his way. Way of what, Hanai didn't want to imagine. It was impossible to put "Abe" and "gentle" in the same sentence. Except he just saw it back there with his own eyes.

Gah! It was all too fucking strange! His head hurt.

"I mean," Tajima began. Hanai looked at him in surprise. _He wasn't done?_ Tajima was picking at the ground with a sort of wistful smile on his face. Wait, wistful?

"I mean," Tajima tried again, curling up and wrapping his arms around his knees. "If they really like each other that much, does it really matter?"

"I guess . . . not?" Hanai ventured after a moment's thought. Hanai watched the other boy for a while, a little befuddled as to why he seemed so sad all of a sudden. He leaned back, extended a leg, and placed his heads behind his head. "Honestly, I don't really know. If they're happy, then I'm cool with it. But that doesn't make it any less strange for me."

"I see," Tajima murmured. Hanai looked at him again, concerned now. It was unlike the shorter boy to be so down. Hanai sort of wanted to wrap an arm around the other, press him close to his side . . . .

"How about you?" Tajima asked abruptly.

"What?" Hanai blinked a couple of times.

Tajima looked straight at him, eyes boring into Hanai's. "If you liked someone that much, would it matter if that person was a girl or boy?"

Hanai was a bit taken aback by Tajima's intense gaze.

"Ah, um . . . uh, you see . . . " Hanai faltered, heartbeat suddenly speeding up. How can Tajima be so _intense_ sometimes? "Like I said, I don't know. I never had a chance to . . . um" — he blushed — “you know, test it out?"

"Test?" Aw, c'mon, Tajima didn't have to give him that kind of look.

"I don't know, kiss or go out or something like that?" Hanai stammered out. His ears burned, heart pounding in his head. Goddammit, why did Tajima have to look at him like that? "I mean, I wouldn't know for sure since I've never had a chance to act on my feelings—“ Hanai paled. _CRAP._

Of course Tajima caught that. "'Your feelings'? As in, you like someone right now? As in, that person might be a guy!?" Hanai backed away and turned his head, uncomfortable with the look Tajima was giving him. What the hell was up with that expression anyway? He couldn't tell if the guy was angry or happy.

Hanai laughed nervously. "Ah, it's nothing, just an old crush, it doesn't concern you, aahahaha," he blabbered. He knows it won't satisfy Tajima but he hoped to god that Tajima would get the hint and just back off. Literally, he realized as he glanced back. When the hell did they end up in this position!?

Tajima was much too close, kneeling next to him but with both hands planted on either side of him on the ground so that he was practically half on top of him. Hanai tried to back up a little further only to remember that he was against the wall. Crap. Hanai gulped as he realized that if he turned his head, he and Tajima would bump noses. He quickly pushed his head against the wall even more. He felt much too hot. Doesn't this guy have any sense of personal space?

The seconds ticked by slowly as the silence stretched on awkwardly. Hanai was sweating bullets, thoughts in a frenzy. Tajima just kept staring at him intently, not budging a centimeter.

"Who?" Tajima finally whispered. _Get off_ , Hanai thought. He didn't answer.

Tajima narrowed his eyes. After a moment, he started to move. Hanai turned his head back to see what he was doing, then blushed darkly. Tajima had straddled himself across Hanai's legs and extended his arms straight to place his hands very deliberately on either side of Hanai's head. They were practically brushing right up against Hanai's ears, preventing him from turning his head anymore.

He tried averting his eyes. It was hard to breathe under Tajima's intense stare. He felt like he was burning up, the blood pounding thickly throughout his body and making his head throb.

"Hanai."  
 _Crap._  
"Hanai, why won't you look at me?"  
 _This isn't good._  
"Look at me."  
 _Dammit, help! Somebody, anybody!_  
"Please, Hanai."  
 _Fuck._

Hanai closed his eyes. Took a deep breath in. Held it. Let it out. Ah, his heart was thudding painfully in his chest. Tilted his head up. Opened his eyes.

And immediately gasped, eyes widening.

Tajima was crying. Or rather, about to. His eyes glimmered as he bit his lip with the effort to keep the tears back. But his gaze didn't waver, didn't lose its intensity.

They stared at each other for a long time. Hana blinked. Then something clicked.

Without stopping to think, they leaned towards each other, closed their eyes, and gently pressed their lips together. One of them — or maybe it was both of them? — started to deepen the kiss, lips parting slightly and tongues darting shyly in and out. The kiss lacked finesse but it wasn't sloppy either; they took their time exploring each other's lips, tongues, mouths . . . .

Gradually, Tajima's hands slid down from the wall to wrap around Hanai, one sneaking beneath Hanai's shirt, the other resting on Hanai's neck. Hanai, too, tentatively brought up a hand to cup Tajima's face, lightly caressing his fingers along the other's jawline.

Presently, they broke apart, panting just a little. Their hands stilled where they were as they rested their foreheads against each other.

Tajima was beaming his signature grin, and seeing that, Hanai could feel his own smile widening even further.

He chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"Hmm?"

"It really doesn't matter," Hanai clarified. Tajima blinked a couple of times before he understood. Then he grinned even wider.

"But, as I thought," Hanai added with a smile, "It doesn't make it any less strange."

Hanai watched in amusement as Tajima's expression shifted from confusion to understanding to indignation. Then it smoothed out into another sparkling smile. "I don't care as long as that means I can have you," Tajima replied sunnily.

Hanai laughed. Leave it to Tajima to take everything in stride.

"C'mon, Tajima, let's go," Hanai said as he disentangled himself and stood up. "It's almost dark and I still need to get my English notes." He offered a hand to the other boy.

Tajima glanced at the proffered hand for a second before grinning mischievously and jumping up to pull Hanai into a tight hug. Hanai shouted a little in surprise but quickly recovered, hugging the boy tighter in return and resting his head in the other's hair. Scruffy but soft. Hanai sighed a little, reveling in the warm sensation.

Yes, it was strange. But it was a good strange.

**Author's Note:**

> ~OMAKE~
> 
> Despite how it might have seemed otherwise, not that much time had actually passed. So it was that just as Hanai and Tajima reached the clubhouse, Abe and Mihashi were locking up.
> 
> Abe noticed them first. "Oh, Hanai," he called out, "Perfect timing. You left your notes behind."
> 
> "Ah, thanks, man," Hanai replied, taking his notes and putting them away. 
> 
> "Mihashiiiiiiii!" Tajima yelled before glomping said pitcher from behind. Abe scowled as Hanai shouted at Tajima to stop yelling, doesn't he realize it's late?
> 
> Tajima ignored them all as usual and leaned over to whisper something into the pitcher's ear.
> 
> Mihashi blushed and stammered, "B-but, how does Ta-tajima-kun . . . know?"
> 
> Tajima grinned and said, "Never mind that, just go ahead and ask. Alright?" Mihashi nodded tentatively. Tajima grinned even wider then scampered back to Hanai's side. Hanai raised an eyebrow at him but Tajima only shook his head and said, "Watch."
> 
> Hanai directed his gaze over as instructed to where Abe and Mihashi were standing. Mihashi was whispering something into Abe's ear.
> 
> "What?" Abe interrupted incredulously, "How do they—“ Mihashi shook his head as if to say 'forget that' and continued to whisper into his ear.
> 
> By this point, Hanai was glaring at Tajima but the shorter boy only shrugged and smiled in response.
> 
> Abe glanced over at them for moment, then shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter now that they know. So what do you want me to do?" he said, looking back at Mihashi.
> 
> Instead of stuttering or whispering some more as Hanai expected, to his surprise Mihashi only stepped back and gazed up expectantly. He was blushing hotly but he had that same expression of calm stillness from before, that selfsame unwavering, steady gaze.
> 
> Abe's eyes flicked over to them once more before returning to Mihashi. He smiled softly. "Fine with me." He leaned in and kissed Mihashi deeply. Their hands remained where they were — Abe's in his pockets, Mihashi's gripping his bag straps — they didn't press any closer, really the only point of contact between them was the kiss. Yet somehow, it didn't lose any level of intimacy at all.
> 
> Hanai looked away, blushing slightly. Just because he was okay with it now didn't make him feel any less like a dirty voyeur. Tajima only sniggered beside him, commenting, "Strange how different they are now, right?"
> 
> That was a part of it certainly.
> 
> Only when they parted did Abe reach out for Mihashi's hand, interlocking their fingers together before walking over to where Hanai and Tajima were waiting.
> 
> "You're unnerving me, Abe," Hanai said.
> 
> "Like I care," was the catcher's reply.


End file.
